OT: Pitino eying a return to NBA, possibly with the Kings

[campybatman]

I remember reading about how Pitino was under the impression that chances were good that Boston could win the lottery in 1997 and select Tim Duncan. So, this latest report about a possible return by him to head coaching in the NBA is unsurprising. I mean I don't think it's a coincidence that Sacramento finished with the league's worst record, and Pitino's thinking (again) might be that the Kings could win the lottery and select Blake Griffin.

Rick Pitino has emerged as a candidate for the Sacramento Kings’ coaching job, multiple sources told Yahoo! Sports.

Pitino has communicated his interest in a possible NBA return to Kings ownership, sources say, and one league official describes the Maloof family as “intrigued.”

It is believed that Pitino intermediaries initiated the contact. No Kings offer is imminent and so far conversations have been exploratory in nature.

Sources caution that there are significant hurdles that need to be cleared before Pitino could become Sacramento’s coach, but say for a variety of reasons Pitino is feeling the pull of the pros again.

“I think he’s a great coach and he’s done an unbelievable job at Louisville,” Maloof told Yahoo! Sports. “But we haven’t talked to him.”

Beyond money, the Maloofs would have to sell Pitino’s candidacy to general manager Geoff Petrie. Pitino has insisted that he no longer craves the personnel control that he had with the Boston Celtics, but his ego and power-hungry history can make entrenched league executives hesitant. It’s unclear where Petrie stands on a Pitino candidacy.

Pitino hadn’t been part of the Kings’ original coaching search, because a high-priced and high-profile candidate didn’t seem to make sense for the cash-strapped organization. Now, the Maloofs are re-examining that based on the interest Pitino has shown in returning to the NBA. Pitino makes more than $3 million a season in a multi-year deal at Louisville.

Nevertheless, NBA executives have insisted for more than a year that Pitino has been monitoring pro openings in hopes of returning to the league for a third time as head coach.

The Maloofs would be banking that Pitino could generate interest, sell tickets and play an appealing up-tempo style. The Kings were 17-65 last season, worst in the NBA, and have lost clout with a fan base that sold out Arco Arena for years. Sacramento has the best chance among lottery teams to earn the No. 1 pick in the June draft and select Oklahoma forward Blake Griffin.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news?slug=a ... &type=lgns

[meatball sub]

The Kings must have zero interest in not sucking for the next several years.

[campybatman]

If he couldn't draft Blake... Watch Pinto use both of Sacramento's first round picks to select Earl Clark and Terrence Williams, his own players.

[Andrew McCeltic]

Sacto fans are going to be pissed at Pitino when he drafts Ron Mercer and Jerome Moiso

[Ed Pinkney]

Unless he signifacntly changes his approach this time it will be doomed to failure again. The general rule these days seems to be that NBA players don't want authoritarian coaches and they want someone who played the game at the highest level. He will also need to avoid the full court press, deep rotation style of play which didn't really work in the 80's with the Knicks, didn't work with us in the 90's and probably wont work no.

[celticfan42487]

I would be surprised if any man could adjust from god status as a college coach to peon status as a NBA coach.

... and that's even if you win 60+ games.

[Cyclical]

I'm looking forward to this press conference:

"Webber is not walking though that door. Divac is not walking through that door. Bibby and Stojakovic are not walking through that door."

[bruno sundov]

^^^^
YES!


Hey he could do a solid job of getting his players to just be bad enoug where they never get great pics. WTF is he thinking? Why does he want to go back to the pros? I think he is nuts.

[spf211]

The NBA is a better place with Rick Pitino coaching in it.

[DieselCeltic]

Rick Pitino sucks.

[GuyClinch]

By joining a bottom dwelling team like Sacto - he should have some success. I think he will do better then people imagine. Let's face it alot of success in this league with regard to coaching comes from having good players.

Pitino's problem was impatience. The Billups trade was a classic example of that. He just didn't have the patience to develop Billups and took the "instant" way out with an established player in Kenny Anderson.

Both Calipari and Pitino could have success in the NBA, IMHO.

[sully00]

I wouldn't say he sucks but he certainly is pretty damn slippery. I think the college recruiting game is totally out of hand with coaches forced to do essentially twice the recruiting combined with the concept of kids going overseas for money legitimately. Now there is a total arms race with Callipari at Kentucky. To be fair to Rick he seemed to be looking to get out of Louisville last year, there were reports he was actually trying to go back to PC were he could get away from expectations and let the kids come to him some.

Another issue is that Pitino had a lot to do with shaping the current rules of the NBA when he was in Boston and many of those rules have taken hold. His lack of patience, understanding of the salary cap, a bizarre belief that personal bonds trumped money and some bad luck, were his undoing in Boston. He likely could have been the coach of what O'Brien coached he simply just quit on it.

He is looking at taking a step back in the Big East and that can be tough to reverse. The interesting thing about Sacramento is that Udrih is their only cumbersome contract, assuming Rick likes his boy Garcia (I don't really). They have two good young bigs, a star in the back court who absolutely strokes the 3, and some expiring contracts that may land them a 2nd tier veteran star. Petrie has proven to be a hell of a GM over the years and this season has been somewhat amazing as he was able to trim the hell out of a bloated roster.

The Kings are an experienced young team and Rick is a hell of a coach if he stays focused on that and not trying to be Trader Rick. But it isn't exactly a FA destination and at the moment they totally suck.

[MyInsatiableOne]

Why Rick? You destroyed your rep in Boston and have finally rebuilt it in college and re-established yourself as a premier NCAA coach...why trash it all again?

[Hemingway]

He will probably bring back Pervis Ellison and make him the team co-captain.

[Gant]

He was so stupid.

He didn't realize ML was tanking and some of his players were actually pretty good. He thought they were responsible for the losses and just wanted to get rid of them. Wesley, Fox and Radja could all play but he dumped them for nothing instead of at least building their value before moving them.

This time Sacto's already moved almost everybody out, saving Rick the trouble.

[GuyClinch]

Why Rick? You destroyed your rep in Boston and have finally rebuilt it in college and re-established yourself as a premier NCAA coach...why trash it all again?

That's a silly question. The guy wants to overcome the challenge of coaching at the highest level. Its like asking why a succesful state senator wants to become president.

[MyInsatiableOne]

He's failed twice, though...why go through it again?

At least this time he should wait until seeing whether they win the lottery or not...

[eitanr]

We got to talk about this further...let all the bad Pitino memories come out.

Last summer I was in Las Vegas and attended several summer league games in the UNLV campus. During one game I sat next to Chris Carr (former Celtic, Sun, Cavalier, T'Wolvf, and dunk contest competitor) and his high school team (from Minny) and sprung up a convo. We actually ended up talking about Pitino the whole time and he had several interesting thoughts on him. He pretty much said Rick "had the largest EGO and was 1000% positive that he shouldn't coach again...he continued on that no player really liked him or like playing for him...and that his book was good, but he didn't actually write it. He called him a great self-promotor, but the most egotisitical person he's ever met.

Now I know this is one player...and it's no super star...we're talking Chris Carr here. But there is some merit to his statement as well. Carr told me, and judging with his interactions from several former coaches I saw him converse with at the event, that he had a good repor with every coach, except Pitino. In the end this obviously does not bode well for how well liked Ricky is.

So why is Sacto doing this?

Well I think the Celtics lesson is learnt here. You in no way let Pitino have any control over what the GM is doing for the franchise. Let him stay clear of the draft process and trade demands etc. Petrie, as was stated earlier, is a great GM...he doesn't need Pitino's help.

As a coach on his own, we have yet to really see if he can be a good game coach. We do know his players didn't like him, but there could be a slight chance he could be productive. Though in reality, a lot of coaching is based on player interaction and he has failed that category. In the end of the day, if Sacto wants a name to be their coach...they should look elsewhere.

I also do agree that if he does have any GM control you'll see him deal that pick and snag Earl Clark, WIlliams, and he'll start Garcia as well.

[Hemingway]

I read his book, born to coach, before he came to the celtics. It covers his time with the knicks up to him leaving. It seems that he gets himself into differences with team management over the direction the team is going. I think we have done a good job with everybody being on the same page. That is key to turning a team around. You have to make a game plan with the goal of becoming a great team and a time trame to do it in, then you have to stick to that plan.

[lojowo]

Pittino a good motivator but shouldnt be allowed to pick players at the NBA level.

If Rick could coach the players another quaility GM has selected to fit in the Pittino system, he maybe fine.